The Red Ball
by Shadowed Night Sky
Summary: "Won't you just play with me?"


_Disclaimer - Masashi Kishimoto is the name of the guy who owns Naruto. Now, if this guy was planning on disguising himself under a pen name to write fan fiction stories for his own show, do you think he would pick the name Shadowed Night Sky? Just asking!  
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_AN: Wow, I've been having a ton of inspiration for stories lately! Second story in three days? That's record for me! This story actually sprouted up from another one-shot that I was trying to write. I decided that the part I was writing would be better on its own, so here it is!  
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**The Red Ball**

**"Won't you just play with me?" **

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Silence.

The slight shifting of grains.

A breath of air.

Endless golden desert stretching out for eternity.

Alone.

All alone.

So very very alone.

A girl stood in the midst of the rolling valleys of the sand, eyes wary as she surveyed the desert before her. Her senses were on high alert, her heart beating loudly.

Beating so very loudly.

A pounding beat that echoed in her ears, a reminder of the life that was still her own.

_I'm alive. Don't worry. Nothing is there. Nothing will find you._

The wind sharpened suddenly, a change that the girl felt was an ominous warning of something to come. The gusts picked up some grains and blew sandy puffs all around her, passing by her before dying away along with the wind.

_Don't worry. Nothing's wrong. You're overreacting. _

The sand rustled.

The girl immediately focused on it, watching as grains slipped down the slight slope of a hill, curious as to what was impelling it.

_It's probably just an animal or some light breeze you can't feel. You're being paranoid._

The sound heightened.

She sensed something behind her, a presence unexplained as until now she had felt nothing unusual.

_Something's wrong, something's wrong! I knew there was something wrong! _

She turned, ready to defend herself against an attacking enemy.

Her eyes widened.

Her lips parted as she took a deep breath, ready to scream.

Scream with surprise.

Scream with shock.

Scream with fear.

Scream with terror.

Her hair blew out behind her as she automatically took a step back, her gaze fixated on the sight before her.

A huge wall of sand, rising up high, golden from the sharp desert sunlight. It moved, swerved, glided, cutting through the air so effortlessly.

She screamed. A piercing wail of pure terror that was lost in the powerful sounds of the monstrous sand.

_Kami, oh Kami! Please please please help me, Kami! _

The sand's movements were so loud, so deafening.

She was frozen. Her screams were ringing through the desert.

The sand pounced, shooting towards her, its speed not enabling her to escape even if she could move.

It was everywhere. The sand wrapped around her, caressing her skin. Her mouth was still open but not a grain slipped in as the warm, horrific sand clutched her in its embrace. It crawled on her skin, diving, touching, thousands of little grains of sand that she could feel were stained with blood.

Blood of the innocent.

Bile arose in her throat but the sand was curving around her neck, tightening its hold on the slender, pale skin, suffocating.

Her eyes darted hopelessly in every direction as the sand moved and flowed.

Tightened.

Suffocating.

Her vision began blurring as she started having trouble breathing. Liquid seeped out from the corners of her eyes.

The sand was everywhere. Surrounding her.

Her watery eyes suddenly spotted a figure, blurred and misshapen. 'Help!' she tried to call, but no words would leave her lips. The sand tightened. 'Help!' she tried again, but the sand was still there, preventing her from crying out.

The figure drew nearer, small, and difficult to see. She could only make out its shape, and distantly noted the color of its hair.

Red.

Red like furious fire.

Red like the brilliant setting sun.

Red like new, fresh blood.

The figure was right in front of her, but did not move to help her.

'Help,' she tried to choke out.

Soft fingers touched her cheek.

"You're so warm," the figure said wonderingly.

The voice was so childish and innocent.

The sand burned her skin as it shifted around its captive.

The tiny digits wandered over her face, testing, searching, feeling.

"You're awfully pretty," the figure said.

'Help me!' She tried to force the words out but they were stuck in her throat.

The fingers settled once again on her cheek.

The grip on her neck weakened only slightly so that her vision cleared, her eyes sharpening as she took the figure in.

It was a boy. A red-haired boy, with big eyes and a red ball clutched in one hand.

No one else was around.

Her mind froze as the truth sunk in.

"Do you like playing ball?" the figure asked.

She couldn't answer because the sand was still there. The grip tightening back up again so she could barely breathe.

"I do," the figure said. "But no one ever wants to play with me."

He sounded sad.

He looked so young.

He seemed so very afraid.

"Do you want to play with me?"

_Nonononononono! Get away from me! Let me go! I don't want this! Let me be!_

But the sand only clenched harder, not releasing her so she could reply.

The boy was still there but her vision was darkening so she couldn't make him out.

"Everyone runs away when I ask them to play ball with me."

_This isn't happening, this isn't happening. Oh Kami, please help!_

"If I let you go, will you run away?"

The sand was still, not moving around her skin. It didn't loosen its tight hold but it did not increase the pressure on her.

"I don't want you to leave. If I let you go, do you promise to stay and play ball with me?"

_Oh Kami, I can't stay here! I have to get away from this...this..._

The sand fell away only slightly, freeing her head enough so that it gave her room to nod frantically, a headache coming on as she suddenly felt dizzy and sick.

_Yesyesyesyesyesyesyes! Anything, anything. Anything to get away from this...this...  
_

Her clearing vision watched as the figure smiled, dropping his hand away from her cheek. He waved it slightly, motioning for the sand to release her.

_Oh Kami, I have to get away from here. I can't stay here. With this...this..._

She could feel the sand hesitate, almost as if it _knew_ that she had no intention of staying, no thoughts at all of keeping the promise she made to this...this...

It tightened slightly, unwilling to let her go. Almost as if it were..._alive_.

But sand wasn't alive...couldn't be alive...right?

The boy was watching her, a slight frown on his face. His hands tightly clutched the red ball.

The sand loosened its grip.

She dropped onto the ground, rubbing her neck.

The boy moved forward, stretching out his small arms so that the ball was right in front of her. "You'll play with me now, right?"

_Nonononononono! Oh Kami, I have to get away! Give me strength!_

And she was running so far, so fast, so frantically. She didn't know where, didn't know how.

_Anywhere but there. Anywhere but with that...that..._

The desert was made of sand. She was surrounded by it. But she knew she had to escape. Had to get away.

As she fled she could hear a cry so painful, so loud, so awful.

Filled with rage, grief, despair.

The sound filled her senses, drumming into her brain, overpowering her heartbeat, so desperate that she faltered in her steps as she ran faster than she believed she could. It was a drone of pure and utter brokenness, a reflection of everything that this godforsaken world had to offer.

And suddenly the sand was there.

Around her, shifting, sliding, rubbing, tightening, suffocating. Preventing movement, restricting air.

She was caught.

The sand was furious and heartless as it gripped her, this time leaving no room for escape, not giving her a chance to save her life. It slithered over her skin, grinding harshly against her.

She saw the tear-filled face of the figure - the boy with such red, _red_ hair - before the sand crept onto her face. "Why?" the boy cried out. "I just wanted to play ball!"

The sand closed over her eyes, blocking out the hot, beating sun that shone brightly over the desert.

"_You're all alike_!" the figure shrieked. "You're all the same! You don't care, you're all so afraid! I can see it in your eyes! _You don't care_! You are all the same way! Why do you always do this? Why can't you just stay? Why do you always have to _run_?"

The sand was tightening, the pressure of its power so frightening...

She couldn't see, she couldn't breath, she could barely even feel as the sand scraped and and scrubbed.

"You're all corrupt! You are all the same! You just don't get it! You don't even try to understand! Why? _Why_? Why don't you _get me_! Why don't you understand! Why don't you even _try_!"

His cries were loud, and deafening. He raged and stormed and screamed about things that she didn't understand. Her brain was fogging over as she felt her vision darkening, edging closer to the state she had not thought she would reach that day.

The sand was everywhere.

The figure screeched. His voice was in every crack and corner of her being. A buzzing sound was entering her ears as the words that were spit out started to cross together, overlapping and losing sense.

The sand was everywhere.

The buzzing noise rose in volume, almost overpowering the boy's screams.

And then...

Silence.

The slight shifting of grains.

A breath of air.

Endless golden desert stretching out for eternity.

Alone.

All alone.

So very very alone.

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_I would adore to hear your thoughts on this. Really! Please review and tell me what you thought! _^_^


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